


Farewell but Not Goodbye

by Mistressfaith



Series: Medieval AU [1]
Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Bittersweet, F/M, Goodbyes, Maiden!Harlow, knight!adam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:22:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27167215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistressfaith/pseuds/Mistressfaith
Summary: Adam will be gone for some time, leaving Harlow behind to await his return. But she doesn't want him to go empty handed.
Relationships: Female Detective/Adam du Mortain
Series: Medieval AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983028
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Farewell but Not Goodbye

"Adam."

The man turns, his chainmail rattling at the sudden movement, the sword he had been studying still in his hand and glinting in the candle light. 

Harlow gives a weak smile. "It suits you. Knighthood, I mean." 

Adam chuckles under his breath and replaces the sword in its scabbard, placing the weapon on the table and moving to stand in front of the woman before him. He tucks a loose strand of her ginger hair behind her ear, letting his fingers trace the line of her jaw before falling back at his side. How he's going to miss her…

"Did you need something, Harlow? Or are you here to distract me, as usual?" He says the words lightly, in jest, but his humor doesn't reach Harlow for once. She gives a weak smile but doesn't meet his eyes, instead staring at the floor, fiddling with something in her hands. He moves to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just...not very good at goodbyes, that's all." The words are spoken softly, barely above a whisper, but Adam hears them all the same and his heart lurches in his chest to see Harlow, his Harlow, his wild and spirited Harlow looking so...lost, so unlike her usual self. 

He brushes his knuckles against her cheek and she leans into the touch with eyes closed. "I will return. I swear it."

"I believe you." And she does, she has no reason to doubt the man she has come to know and love, yet still she cannot shake the pit in her stomach that had taken root since learning Adam would be leaving. And she knows he is fighting for his name, his countrymen and her, but still. She wishes he would stay. 

"Harlow, look at me."

And she does. She stares into eyes the color of springtime, looks into their depths and sees only passion and strength and so much love for her it is overwhelming. She does not see fear nor doubt; no, those were words that would never suit Adam du Mortain even should he live for eternity. This knowledge soothes Harlow, covers her in the warmth of security and wraps her in comfort, just as he had that night in his chambers not too long ago. Even now, the memory of them together in such a way sends a pleasant heat throughout her core, spreading across her limbs and rising to her freckled cheeks. 

"I know you will think of me as I will think of you, Harlow. Let those thoughts keep you company till I return and I shall give you new memories to ponder." 

He gazes at her, eyes blazing with an intensity that has Harlow holding her breath. It isn't lust, but longing. 

The kiss comes next, slowly but full of want, with Adam cupping her head in his hand and Harlow throwing her arms around his neck. It's passion and love and yearning and need. Their lips move in tandem, breath mingling and tongues warring for dominance. He tastes like mint and petrichor; she like strawberries and sugar. 

When they finally part, both are breathless, foreheads resting against each other. Adam focuses on committing the taste of her, her scent, the way her skin feels under his hand to memory; he will be gone for a time, alone amongst a battalion of men and horses and hounds. He will miss her. Dearly.

Harlow holds out her hand to Adam, her fingers laid back and palm open. Resting there is a brooch. 

A guardsmen's brooch. 

"It was my father's," Harlow answers when Adam pulls back to meet her eyes, a slight furrow to his brow. She very rarely speaks of her father and it's not a subject Adam broaches; all he knows is that he died. "It kept him safe, up until the end. He always wore it, just here, above his heart," Harlow places a finger on her chest, above her heart and gives a single tap. She takes a breath and let's it out, stuttering from her lips only slightly, but she regains her composure swiftly. "I want you to take it with you."

"Harlow-"

"I know it's ridiculous, but this brooch-" Harlow stops, her lips pursing as she takes a calming breath. "This brooch was with my father through everything, the good and the bad. He never took it off."

At this, Harlow smiles, but it's not her usual mischievous one, or her special one she gives only Adam. No, this smile is one he's seen only once before from Harlow. It's the look one gives when thinking back on bittersweet memories. 

She shakes her head to clear her reminiscence and pushes her hand forward. "I want you to take it. You don't have to wear it, I just," she takes a breath, "I just want you to have something of mine while you're gone. To remember me. To remember to come back."

There's a long pause before Adam says anything, before he takes the brooch in his hand and tucks it into his pocket, before he curls his hand behind Harlow's head to bring her forward to rest her head against his, her eyes fluttering shut at the touch. 

"I will always come back."

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first entry in my Medieval AU where Adam has not been turned. It's basically a way for me to write my favorite genre/time period and Adam as I think he may have behaved prior to...well whatever that mirror scene in Book 2 was.


End file.
